Those meeting robust criteria will form the Founding 50 of Jisc’s step up programme, run in partnership with Emerge Education.  

Step up is a membership-based programme that assesses emerging startups against key sector requirements, encouraging institutions and edtech startups to work together with confidence. Step up will provide a direct access point for institutional decision-makers when deciding which companies to work with.

Between now and February, Jisc is looking for applicants of the highest quality to join the nine accepted into the programme at launch in May 2019. They should have a robust business model that offers innovative and proven solutions to problems facing education providers, particularly around student experience.

Jisc has worked with senior policy makers to ensure that step up supports the ambitions of the government's edtech strategy (pdf) to help create a vibrant edtech business sector in the UK. The team has worked with institutional decision makers to co-create this initiative - tackling concerns around engaging with startups and providing opportunities for institutions to engage with the best on offer.

Sue Attewell, head of edtech at Jisc, says:

“We’re looking to find 50 of the best and most innovative post-16 edtech startups that will interest and excite our members.

“Our members will find it much easier to partner with startups when they know sector-validated due diligence has been carried out and its solution is procurement ready. They need access to a set of reliable, vetted startups that are of the highest quality, and cover the range of the student experience. This is what we want to build with the Founding 50.

“Step up is creating a vibrant community of edtech startups that are ready and keen to work with institutions.

“By nurturing these new businesses, Jisc hopes to make technologies that are shaping the fourth industrial revolution more accessible to the sector, helping to build a corresponding Education 4.0 that responds to these shifts.“

The deadline for registering interest in the Founding 50 is 28 February 2020. Please email Eva Stirling for further information.